8:00 p.m
I lift
a red plastic glass to my lips and take a sip of the thick green liquid.
Tugging at my dress, I look around at the monsters filling Main Street. A
werewolf with thick, matted fur howls at the blue moon in the night sky. A
group of vampires slide past, covering their pale faces with black capes. One
vampire lifts its head and hisses at me, showing off long canines covered in
blood. Witches cackle over a boiling cauldron placed in the middle of the
street as little red demons dance around them. A boy with stringy hair and red
eyes sits on the curb and grins up at me with pointed teeth. A pale shimmering
girl glances at me and moans before drifting off, down the street. Zombies
stood swaying at every lamp post, many with half eaten faces, or missing limbs.
A girl sitting at the edge of the stage set up at the corner of the street
laughs insanely, holding a butcher knife in one hand.
It was,
of course, Halloween. Once a year, the town set up a huge Halloween party on Main
Street, so that everyone could enjoy the only holiday when it was appropriate
to dress up as monsters and scare the living daylights out of our neighbors. Of
course, after being away at college for the past three years, I had missed the
monster memo. I was dressed as Little Bo Peep, and my little sheep was off
trick-or-treating. Along with her twin brother, a zombie. Our parents had sent
me out to go trick-or-treating with my younger brother and sister, who were
twins. Of course they immediately ditched me at the party in the street,
claiming they knew exactly where to go, and where not to go.
I take
another sip of the green liquid, I had heard someone call it zombie blood, and
quash my fears. Mapleton may go overboard celebrating Halloween, or any holiday
for that matter, but it was safe.
A
single note blares from the stage and all heads, including mine, turn to the
band onstage. Creatively named The Jokerz, they wore one form or another of
scary clown makeup. Once they were certain they had everyone’s attention they
started playing their first set, filling the street with deep bass notes, and
taking the high to an all new level. I smile into my cup as I take another sip
of the green slime.
I feel
something tugging on my arm before hearing a moaning voice.
“Lunaaaa,” I glance down to see a
miniature zombie, pulling relentlessly on my arm.
“What is it Zack?” I sigh, glancing
around for Clair, my other younger sibling.
“Clair’s cheating!” the small
zombie moans.
I sigh and set my cup down, already
feeling the caffeine buzzing through my veins, before crouching down in front
of my little brother, making sure that my Little Bo Peep costume didn’t rip or
get dirty.
“How is Clair cheating?” I ask,
looking straight into Zack’s eyes, ignoring his very well done zombie make-up.
“She ran off with this big scary
guy. She’s gonna get more candy than me!” he wails.
“Where?” I ask, a small thrill of
fear stabbing into my heart.
“I dunno! They went thataway!” he
cries, gesturing towards Kreaky Ave. “Why is she gonna get more candy than me!”
Zack wails.
I tousle his hair and smile
nervously. “Don’t worry Zack, I’ll go get her. You go off with Billy, you saw
him right?”
Zack nods, excited that he was
going to get to go with his first choice of tick-or-treater, his best friend.
I stand up and smooth my skirt
while glancing around for the miniature pirate I had seen earlier. I spot him,
walking up the path to a house near the stage.
“There he is Zack,” I say,
pointing. “Go on, and have fun. Make sure to stay with Billy and his mom okay?”
Zack nods eagerly and runs to
Billy’s mom, quickly asking if he could stay with him. She smiles and nods
before gesturing to Billy, who was already ringing the doorbell for candy.
I sigh and grab my drink, downing
it before squishing the cup in my grip and tossing it in a nearby trashcan
before checking the hidden pocket in my costume for my cell phone. It was
there, with no message from Clair. She had most likely dropped the phone I had
given her and her twin brother Zack to share, so calling it would be pointless.
I sigh and start making my way to Kreaky Ave., dreading what I may, or may not,
find there.
9:02p.m
I step through the graveyard gate
hesitantly, reluctant to admit that it was the only place left where Clair may
be. Kreaky Ave. didn’t have much on it, other than the graveyard, the old
cathedral, and the ancient library that no one used. Seeing as how both the
cathedral, and library were locked up tight, and Clair had been nowhere on the
grounds around them, that left only the graveyard.
I wince as the gate creaks loudly
behind me, piercing the ominous silence that built the excitement on most
Halloween nights. But this night it just scared me. Poor skittish Clair had
probably been led away from her protective twin brother so that the many little
boys in her class could play a prank on her. And knowing Clair, she wouldn’t
expect anything to happen, and would likely be scarred for life. Or at least
have nightmares for months. I
couldn’t let that happen to my dear little sister. She was sweet, kind, always
had a smile on her face, and wouldn’t let anything get her down. She was the
kind of person everyone loved. And unfortunately, when little boys got a crush,
they picked on the girl they liked. Poor Clair had no idea what was going on,
only that she was suddenly being bullied. Or so she thought.
I swallow a lump in my throat,
suddenly yearning to hug my little sister, to comfort her and tell her that
everything would be fine, and to explain to her why she was being picked on so
much. I picture her little face, surrounded by her dark brown curls, bright
blue eyes glistening with tears from the latest horror that the boys at school
had unleashed on her.
I steel my nerves and press
forward, ignoring the black cat that runs out in front of me, ignoring the
tombstones surrounding me, only searching for my baby sister.
9:33p.m
I sigh
and look up at the angel looming over me. It was a part of a very elaborate
grave, but the name had worn off.
“Please,”
I whisper, staring up at the angel. “Please let me find her.”
A
cricket stops chirping, and I shudder as a breeze blows the hair off my neck,
and turn to head back to the Halloween party, hoping that Clair had gone back and
everything was just a big misunderstanding.
Suddenly
a scream pierces the silence, and I stumble on a flat tombstone. I push myself
up, wiping pine needles from my forearms. A loud slap resonates through the
night, and I hear a masculine voice yell, but cannot make out the words.
I climb
to my feet and look around frantically searching for the source of the scream.
I hear a laugh, and turn towards it. Another, smaller scream sounds out, and I
pinpoint its location to the mausoleum at the back of the graveyard. I run
towards it, avoiding tomb after tomb.
After
what seems like an eternity, the mausoleum comes into view, and I come to a
short stop before falling to my knees and scrambling for cover. A tall guy in
his mid forties was chuckling maniacally while gutting my baby sister.
Clair
was convulsing occasionally, wide empty eyes staring at the night sky, while
this twisted man ripped out her organs, a bloody blade gleaming in the
moonlight. I stifle a scream and stare, unable to move, unable to blink as I
watch my sister’s murder.
The man
brandishes the knife and rips out what appears to a lung, as revealed by
Clair’s soundless gasp as she convulses on the flat tombstone now coated with
her blood. Tears start pouring down my cheeks as frustration claws at my heart
at my inability to do anything. The man chuckles and licks the blood off his
knife before reaching into the gaping hole of Clair’s chest and producing a
horrible sickening sound as he breaks her ribs, pulling them open.
I hold
back my nausea as the bones break through her skin and blood pours over bone,
muscle, and flesh. I pray that Clair was dead, as much as it killed me; I
wished no further pain on her. The man reaches into Clair’s chest and pulls out
a red, beating organ. Her heart. My vision darkens as anger, fear, and nausea
consume me, leaving me only a narrow field of vision. The man pulls out a
silver cup shaped like a goblet and squeezes Clair’s, now still, heart over the
cup, filling it with her blood. He raises the goblet and the moonlight winks
off of its silver surface before he grins and gulps down the red liquid. Horror
pulses through my veins and my stomach clenches, threatening to spill what
wasn’t there.
The man
eagerly gulps down every drop of the blood, and then uses the fabric from
Clair’s lamb costume to clean the goblet off. Grinning he replaces the cup in
his bag, along with the knife. He looks around calmly, before he turns to leave
the graveyard. I wait until I’m sure that he was long gone before running up to
Clair’s limp, decimated body. Sobbing I throw my arms over her, heedless of the
gore. Cradling her head in my arms, I sob up at the moon. I quickly run out of
tears, and dry, heaving sobs shake my entire body.
“I’m so
sorry Clair,” I sob, my voice barely audible in the night. “I should have done
something, I should have stopped him. I’m so sorry!”
I lean
down, bringing her pale, blood specked face to my own and rest my forehead
against hers. Time seems to stop, as grief consumes my entire world. MY baby
sister was gone. Murdered by some psychopath with a vampire obsession. I shake
my head slowly, refusing to let the truth sink in. But the truth was
unavoidable as Clair laid in my arms, limp, pale, and cold. She was gone. And
it was all my fault. I slowly reach up and close Clair’s eye lids as sobs
threaten to choke me.
A twig
snaps nearby, and my heart leaps to my throat, yet another thing there
threatening to cut off my oxygen. I hear heavy footsteps approaching and slowly
lift my head.
Standing
in front of me, reaching for Clair, was the grim reaper.
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